Electrically operated vehicle safety light



Jan. 16, 1951 H. P. COMPTON 2,538,146 ELECTRICALLY OPERATED VEHICLESAFETY LIGHT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 LE Z Z6 Filed June 23, 1948 Campion @MQLMJan. 16, 1951 H. P. COMPTON 2,538,146

ELECTRICALLY OPERATED VEHICLE SAFETY LIGHT Filed June 25, 1948 2SheetsSheet 2 IZ g i i 6 g /7 HPUamzzZan MQW Patented Jan. 16, 1951ELECTRICALLY OPERATED VEHICLE SAFETY LIGHT Henry P. Compton, Abilene,Tex., assignor of onetenth to "ie Payne, Jr., Abilene, Tex.

Application June 23, 1948, Serial No. 34,670

This invention relates to automobile lighting equipment and moreparticularly to a safety light accessory for vehicles.

It is an object of this invention to provide an automobile lightaccessory as a safety lamp to be used as a guide light, head light, sidelight, fog light, tail light, warning signal and it may be used forother purposes such as a parking light or danger signal light and willbe secured to the front or rear on the left side preferably, or could beincorporated in the design of new cars at any desirable position.

l Claim. (Cl. 177 7) Another object of this invention is to provide asafety lamp co constructed and arranged to cast a strong light a fewfeet to the left of an automobile enabling an approaching vehicle toclearly see the road to the side of the car so equipped. The lamp isdesigned to eliminate the dangerous dark spot that always exists as twocars approach each other with their head lights on, and then the driverswill be able to see the edge of the curb or a person, animal or vehiclethat may be on the side of the road. The safety light is preferablyconnected in the lighting circuit for operation when the head light dimcircuit is completed. The safety light will eliminate the hazard of aone eyed car on a dark highway by illuminating the road in the directionof the oncomer.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved safetylight for warning a following vehicle that the car ahead is about toturn and indicating the direction of the turn. An audible sound isinitiated at the same time as the visual signal thus offering a doublesignal to the following vehicle of a change in direction of the carahead. The horn is connected to be actuated at the time either turninglight is lit, and the sound is directed to the rear of the car.

A further object of this invention is to provide a reflector signal toreflect the light of an approaching vehicle in the case of a car beingstopped on the road with the electric lights turned off.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention consists in thearrangement, combination and details of construction disclosed in thedrawings and specification, and then more particularly pointed out inthe appended claim.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of an automobile safety light accessoryconstructed according to an embodiment of my invention;

Figure 2 is a rear elevation;

Figure 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1;

tends across the housing In from one Side to Figure 4 is a verticalsection taken on the line '4-4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic view of the electrical circuit for the light.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral Ill designates generally a hollowbody or housing for containing the light of the safety lamp of thisinvention. The housing or body In is substantially elliptical inconfiguration having an open end. A base as H is fixed to or formed onthe lower end'of the housing Ill and provides an attaching means forsecuring the light to the fender or body of a vehicle. The body I0 isadapted to be made of metal, plastic or other suitable material and theinner surface thereof 'is of a natural silver color or willbe providedwith a silvered surface so that the interior of the body ID will providea reflector for the lights contained therein. A reflector surface I2 isprovided at the forward end of the body Ill and substantially covers theapex of the parabolic configuration of the body at this end. The openrear end of the body Ill is partially closed by a lens I at the upperside thereof and an apertured wall l5 below the lens.

A vertical wall as [6 is fixed in the body Ill and extends along itslength. The wall [6 is positioned exactly in the center of the body It!and extends along its axis. The wall l6 separates the interior of thebody In into a pair of chambers l9 and 20 within which turn indicatinglights are adapted to be enclosed. A horizontal wall I! is positionedtowards the rear of the housing In and intersects the vertical wall H5at its rear end. The horizontal wall H exthe other being attached to theinner surface of the side walls thereof. The rear end of the horizontalwall I! is inclined downwardly so that the rear end of'the wall l1 maybe fixed to the bottom wall of the housing In intermediate the lengththereof. The vertical wall i6 is broken away below the horizontal walll1 so that the wall I! defines a third chamber within the housing In.The third chamber extends across the housing at the rear end thereofproviding a space for a horn or other audible signal device. The lens 14closes the rear end of the chambers I9 and 20 on the opposite sides ofthe vertical wall 16 above the horizontal wall H. A metal platecomprises the operational wall closing the open end of the housing Inbelow the lens l4 and the plate I5 is provided with a plurality ofapertures 22 so that the audible signal from the horn or other devicecontained within the chamber 24 below the horizontal wall l1 will not berestrained. A cap or rim having a forwardly extending flange 26 engagesabout the body 10 at the rear end thereof for securing the lens l4 andplate l5 in place.

One side wall as the left wall of the body It} is formed with an opening21. An outwardly bowed lens 28 is secured to the body In about theopening 21 for directing the light from a bulb within the housing to oneside of the housing and the vehicle on which it is attached. A refiectorplate 29 which is inwardly bowed as clearly shown in Figure 3 of thedrawings is also secured about the opening 2'! within the housme It].

An L-shaped bracket 30 is fixed on the upper surface of the horizontalwall I"! within the chamber IQ for mounting an electric light bulbsocket as 3| on one side of the vertical wall IS. A second L-shapedbracket 32 is fixed on the top surface of the horizontal wall I! on theother side of the vertical wall 16 in the chamber 20 to provide asupport for another socket 34 for supporting another turn indicatinglamp therein. A socket 35 is fixed on the reflector plate 29 formounting an electric light bulb 36 within the opening 2! in the sidewall of the housing Ill. Suitable indicia as indicated by the numeral 2!are contained on the lens 14 for indicating the direction of a turn tobe indicated by the illumination of a selected one of the lights in thesockets 3| or 34.

In Figure 5 there is shown a preferred wiring diagram for the lightbulbs and horn contained within the housing ID. The two turn indicatinglights 3! and 38 are connected together on one side by a wire 39. Thehorn 4B is connected by wire 4| to the lead 39 and the other side of thehorn circuit is connected by a lead 42 to a suitable ground connection.The light bulb 31 is connected by a lead 44 to a contact post 45 of aturn indicating selector switch 46 to be mounted or installed in thevehicle at a selected position. A lead 41 connects the light bulb 38 toa contact post 48 of the switch 46. member 49 of the switch 46 isconnected by a suitable lead 50 to the battery indicated by the numeral5|. The side illuminating light 36 is grounded by a lead 52 on one sideand is connected. by a lead 54 to the dimmer circuit of the automobilehead lights indicated by the numeral 55. The dimmer bulbs of the headlights are connected in parallel by a lead 55 and a fixed contact member51 is operatively connected to the lead 56. The movable contact member58 of the head light dimmer switch 59 is engageable with the contact 5'!and is connected on the other side to the battery and to the lead 50 ofthe turn indicating switch 46. i

In the use and operation of the automobile The movable contact safetylamp, the side light 36 will be illuminated when the switch 59 is closedfor completing the circuit to the head light dimmer. The side light 36will provide for the illumination of the automobile on the left side sothat the road to the left of the vehicle so equipped and the left sideof the car will be illuminated and visible to approaching cars. Uponclosing the switch 46 to a selected one of the contacts 45 or 48 forilluminating one of the turning lights 31 and 38 the completion of thecircuit to either one of the turning lights will complete the circuitthrough the horn 40 so that a double indication of th desire to turnwill be afforded to vehicles following the automobile equipped with thissafety lamp. The lights 31 and 38 thus illuminated will be visiblethrough the lens [8 and the sound of the horn 40 will be audible throughthe apertured plate 2|.

I do not mean to confine myself to the exact details of constructionherein disclosed but claim all variations falling within the purview ofthe appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A safety accessory for automobiles comprising an elliptical housing openat one end, a horizontal partition extending from said open end to anintermediate portion of said housing and terminating in an arcuatepartition intersecting the side wall of said housing, defining a horncontaining chamber, a vertical partition extending along the center lineof said housing from the open end to the closed end thereof above saidhorizontal partition defining light containing chambers, a light securedto the upper side of said horizontal partition on each. side of. saidvertical partition, a lens closing the open end of said light containingchambers, an apertured plate closing the open end of said horncontaining chamber, means forming an aperture in a side wall of at leastone said light containing chambers, a concave plate closing saidaperture interiorly of said housing, a light socket on said plate, alens closing said aperture exteriorly of said housing, and a parabolicreflecting surface exterior-1y positioned on the outer surface of theclosed end. of said housing.

HENRY P. COMPTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,121,424 Voss Dec. 5, 19141,134,360 Walker Apr. 6, 1915 1,497,760 Lyon et a1 June 17, 19242,220,222 Duncan Nov. 5, 1940

